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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 August 2014

Monsoon picks up, so does kharif sowing

With improvement in the southwest monsoon, kharif sowing has picked up and is now only 8.89 per cent lower than last year.
Although there are still concerns about the lower sowing of oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals, the paddy plantation is less by only 5.18 per cent over last year and cotton sowing is higher by 1.9 per cent over last year.
According to the India Meteorological Department, till August 8, monsoon was 18 per cent below the long period average with the highest departure of 32 per cent in northwest India.
The shortfall in the sowing of coarse cereals, however, is still high at 20.89 per cent over last year. Sugarcane cultivation this year has been in 47.17 lakh hectares compared to 50.32 lakh hectares in the corresponding period last year.
The average storage in 85 reservoirs is reported to be 57 per cent of the total storage capacity of these reservoirs. Average water levels on August 7 were 82 per cent of the storage of the corresponding period last year.

India to draft 5-year plan of action to deepen ties with ASEAN

In her address at the 12th India-ASEAN meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India would soon draft a five-year plan of action starting 2016 to take the trajectories of common interests with ASEAN to a new level and particularly emphasised on improving connectivity in the region to further boost trade and people-to-people contact.
Strongly pitching for improvement in connectivity, Indian said India wanted connectivity in all its dimensions - geographic, institutional and people-to-people. She also referred to 5Ts of government of India — Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade and Technology — reflecting priority areas and noted that in foreign policy connectivity precedes them all.
The ASEAN-India strategic partnership owes its strength to the fact that India's ‘Look East’ policy meets ASEAN'S ‘Look West’ towards India.
The members of ASEAN include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. India and the ASEAN have already implemented a free trade agreement in goods and are set to widen its base and include services and investments. The India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement was signed in August 2009 and it came into force on January 1, 2010.
There has been significant progress in ties between India and the ASEAN grouping in the last few years in diverse sectors, particularly in trade and commerce. The bilateral trade grew by 4.6 per cent from $68.4 billion in 2011 to $71.6 billion in 2012. ASEAN’s exports were valued at $43.84 billion and imports from India amounted to $27.72 billion in 2012. The target has been set at $100 billion by 2015 for ASEAN-India trade.

Jaswant Singh still in coma, critical

Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh “continues to be in a coma and very critical” on Saturday in hospital, where he is being treated for a severe head injury he sustained after a fall on Thursday night at his residence.
Seventy-six-year-old Mr. Singh is under care and treatment at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where he was admitted early on Friday. He is on life support systems and under constant monitoring by a team of neurosurgeons and critical care providers.

‘India, Pakistan must negotiate FTAs’

Co-chair of the India-Pakistan Joint Business Forum (IPJBF) said that the two neighbours should consider negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs). He also expressed the hope that Islamabad would soon grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India as the formalities on the matter had already been completed. Pakistan is yet to reciprocate India’s grant of MFN status to it in 1996.
The PIJBF has constituted 10 task forces including for agriculture, banking and finance, energy, visa facilitation, textiles, automobiles, engineering and IT that will recommend steps and policies that the two neighbours could take for increasing bilateral trade and investments.

SC to examine whether two life sentences can be imposed for repeated murders

The Supreme Court decided to examine an important question of law whether the trial court or the High Court can impose two life sentences on an accused for repeated murders.
In this case the accused was initially awarded life imprisonment for murder committed in 1994. Even as he was undergoing the sentence, he committed another murder when on parole for a brief period. He was again sentenced to undergo life term consecutively after the completion of first life sentence.
Although under Section 427 (2) of Criminal Procedure Code “When a person already undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for life is sentenced on a subsequent conviction to imprisonment for a term or imprisonment for life, the subsequent sentence shall run concurrently with such previous sentence”.

‘Developed nations must walk the talk on climate goals’

The BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) group reiterated that developed countries should walk the talk on climate change goals, accept their historical responsibilities of polluting the planet and finance technology transfer to the developing world.
BASIC proposed joint action on various issues including emission targets and other plans to be set out by next year.
A joint statement issued here after the two-day 18th ministerial meeting said progress after the Warsaw climate talks was reviewed and the 2015 outcome to be adopted at the meeting in Paris should be comprehensive, balanced, equitable and fair in order to enhance the effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
India said all countries should ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol quickly and there should be full operationalisation of the Green Climate Fund. Under the Durban Platform, the countries were expected to increase their ambitions on emission cuts but that is not happening, with some like Japan reducing their targets.

Airstrikes as long as needed, says Obama

U.S. sent a clear message to warring factions in Iraq morning that airstrikes in Iraq would continue for as long as necessary to protect U.S. personnel and religious minorities trapped on a mountain near Sinjar by the militant Islamic State (ISIL) group.
Specifically addressing the Sunni community Mr. Obama said that it was imperative that they realise that “ISIL is not the only game in town,” and that the militant group’s “barbarity and brutality,” should convince Sunnis to invest in pushing back on extremism.
Meanwhile Turkey has ruled out their involvement in U.S. airstrikes against the extremists near the Kurdish regional capital of Irbil.